Since French socialist Francois Hollande has won in the country’s presidential election, two Korean adoptee politicians have emerged as potential members of his Cabinet.
Working as a digital economy advisor at the Hollande camp of the Socialist Party, Fleur Pellerin, 38, has been mentioned as a strong candidate for a ministerial post for the digital economy. Pellerin, whose Korean name is Kim Jong-suk, was adopted into a French family in 1973, six months after her birth.
Pellerin, the leader of the 21st Club, a group of elite French female politicians, graduated from business school ESSEC, Science Po or the Paris Institute of Political Studies and ENA or national administration institute.
She is now in charge of culture, audio and visual media and national education at the Board of Audit and Inspection. Her potential appointment surfaced after minister president-elect Hollande promised that he would form a Cabinet with women members constituting half of it.
Jean-Vincent Place, 43, who was adopted by a French lawyer family in Normandy when he was seven, drew an attention when he won a seat in the French Senate last year, becoming the first ethnic Korean to advance to France’s top political body.
Majoring in economics, he entered politics in 1993 as an MP’s aide and joined the Green Party in 2001. After being elected senator, he was also appointed as the floor leader, the number two position in the party. If the Green Party succeed in the general election, it is highly probable that he would be nominated as minister of the economy.
Place said that Green Party will support the incoming Hollande government as they are close to the socialist party. “A New era of the left has begun,” he added.
Hollande will reveal his preliminary Cabinet member list comprised of Socialist Party members before Inauguration Day, May 16. The Cabinet members from other parties, including the Green Party, will be named after a general election slated for June 10 to 17.